Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - High Tea at the William Penn

Enjoying a leisurely high tea. We had a nice two hour meal with G, J, J and me. K flew in a little later and took a cab to the hotel.

Leon Russell at the Rhythm Room

Brings back all of those old memories.

The band overpowered Leon's singing to the point where I wondered if he was really singing. But he sang "A Song For You" without most of the band members and it was good to hear it live. We stood for two hours to watch the concert, but it was well worth staying through to the very end.

How did he do? Well, he said absolutely nothing. Got on stage and played and sang. But do we even remember a time when we heard him speak in his younger years? I don't. I looked at his website and he did a lot more than I remember. Busy man.

http://www.leonrussellrecords.com/memory_lane.shtml

Enjoy!


This is the review from a local reporter.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2010/07/leon_russell_at_the_rhythm_roo.php

I'm next!!!!!

Close to the front door.

Woo hoo. Made the turn. (iPhone drama)

We finally made the turn around the building corner. Closer. Closer.
Everyone is in good spirits. Some people didn't reserve and started in
line at 6:30 am. They were just told (at 3:00 pm) that the non-
reserves were sold out.

Lines for new iPhone

Long lines all day! 112 degrees today. It's insane!!

Crosby Stills and Nash

12th row seats at the Dodge Theatre. Tonight had a big city feel.
Metro to downtown, Dinner at Thai Elephant, then walked to the concert.

Review of the concert: To start with, I like the accoustics at Dodge Theatre. Our seats were only 12 rows back, and a little on the left side of the stage. The band started about 30 minutes late, but it is my guess that they were having a slight delay because the Phoenix Suns' playoff game was on in the lobby and a large group was watching the game. (We do have our priorities.) The first song started, and the guitars were SOOOO loud that I couldn't hear the voices. Stills was muffled, and the group was off on the harmony. Long story short, I did not like the first half.

But we didn't leave at intermission.

The second half was acoustic and harmony. Crosby and Nash could still carry it, but Stills had a tough time and showed his skills by performing loud two or three note guitar solos from time to time. They played songs from other groups (reminds us that the 30 year coverage on the Beatle songs has expired) and finished strong with a few familiar tunes. My guess is that the bulk of the songs that I remember were actually done by Neil Young, and from the discussion on stage they were allowed to play only one of his songs. Interesting. I will need to check my "album" collection because there were several songs that I didn't recognize.

All in all, it was a good night. The Metro was filled by people in costume, and we came to learn that there was a comic book convention in town, hence the costumes. The Thai food was very good, but we could have skipped the appetizer since there was so much food in the curry dish. The Metro was awesome for Dodge, allowing only three blocks to walk from the station to the theatre.

French Class

Bonjour!! Yes, this is the spot where I learn and practice French. It
is the beautiful home of my teacher, Coco. We enjoy the wonderful
weather, the flower and vegetable gardens, and the commaradery of the
class. Well, I should leave my lounge chair by the pool and join the
class.

Arizona Falls

Beautiful Water falls along the canal. Sounds like you are out in the
wilderness.

Echo Coffee

A new coffee shop opened on the northwest corner of 68th Street and Thomas Road in Scottsdale. Echo Coffee has already drawn a crowd. The latte was very tasty and smooth. The Quiche Lorraine was smooth with flavorful crust. I also tried a blueberry scone and was delighted with the taste plus the fact that it didn't appear to be manufactured off-site. It is NOT your typical Scone from the coffee giant. Tasted real.